Jedi Castle
by The Dark Scribbler
Summary: Rick Castle has had a hell of a day. Kidnapped, then rescued by a mysterious hooded figure...
1. Chapter 1

Yes, I know, I need to work on The Terran Jedi. But this arrived in my head and made a nuisance of itself. Yes, The Terran Jedi will get updated. But first I had to get this out of my head. Enjoy.

* * *

He woke up slowly. Oh hell, this was the worst hangover ever. Worse than the party after his first bestseller. Worse than after Alexis was born. Oooohhh… hopefully his brains weren't coming out of his ears. He struggled to remember what the hell he'd been drinking last night.

It was at this point that various parts of his body started to report in. His back hurt. Probably because he was sitting on a very hard chair. Wooden chair? Maybe. Oh. And he was tied to it. That wasn't good. Plus there was a bag over his head. That was worse. He licked his lips and then hissed slightly at how dry they were. And then memory snuck in and walloped him on the back of his skull. Oh. The walk to the car. With Beckett. And then the snarls from the shadows and the appearance of the three men and two women with… bumpy… foreheads.

"Oh crap," he said out loud. "That gang again? And kidnappers?"

He heard a muffled noise to his right and then a voice slurred a single word: "Castle?"

A combination or relief and terror flooded through him. "Kate?"

"Oh thank God, Rick! Are you okay?"

He paused for a moment as he assessed the various messages that his body was sending him. "Well, the back of my head hurts, I want to throw up, there's a bag over my head, I have a slightly dead leg and, oh, I'm FAR more concerned with how you are!"

There was a slight pause. "Actually," she said eventually, "I'm about the same as you. Do you remember what happened?"

He winced as some more fragments of memory jangled into place. "Um, we were waylaid. By some people with yellow contact lenses and bumpy foreheads. Who I'm pretty sure that-"

"Esposito warned us against," Beckett finished for him. "Oh crap, as you said."

Richard Castle winced. "Okay. So you've got a bag over your head?"

"Yes. Smells like a hamster peed in it."

He sniffed slightly. "Same here." He leant forwards and then gingerly shook his head. Stars burst in front of his eyes, his headache got a lot worse, but the bag over his head shifted a bit. "Urgh."

"Are you okay?"

"Headache. Might have shifted this bag though. Can you get your own bag off your head?"

There was a slight pause, followed by a loud gulp. "Not without throwing up inside it. Head hurts."

That was worrying. She might have concussion. He waited until his headache ebbed a bit, leant forwards as far as he could and then jerked his head carefully up and down. Argh, more headache, but he could feel the bag move again. A sudden idea came to him and he bit into the bag and pulled it downwards as he lowered his head again. More movement and he felt the bag shift even further – to the point where he held it in his teeth. He promptly spat it out. "Yuck. I do not want to know where that's been."

"What?"

"Bag's off." He looked around blearily at the room. The first thing he looked for was Beckett and he let out a sigh of relief. She was indeed to his right, next to him in fact. She was also tied up, obviously, with a bag that looked as bad as his had tasted over her head.

"Describe the room," she ordered, still sounding too shaky for his liking. "We need to get the hell out of here."

Castle looked around the room. "Well, the place looks like it's been trashed. One light overhead, quite a dim one, which is good because my eyes are still adjusting. Rubbish to my left. Suspicious stains also to my left. I think that we can classify this place as being officially unpleasant. No windows that I can see. One door. Large, metal and very likely locked." He squinted at her. "Can you lean to your left a bit?"

Beckett leaned over and he leaned to his right. "A bit more?" She moved just a little closer and he craned his neck to grab a protruding flap of the bag over her head with his teeth. "'ait a min'ute," he grunted and then pulled the bag off her head. Yup, it did too taste of hamster pee and he spat it out. "There you go."

The woman that he loved looked like hell. Her hair was a mess, there was a lump on the side of her head and what looked like blood there. She blinked muzzily around her, caught sight of him and then smiled shakily. "Hey."

"Hey. Your eyes are crossed. Are you seeing two of me?"

She seemed to consider this for a moment. "Uh, yes?"

This was not good. He jerked his hands to assess their bindings and suppressed a groan. They felt depressingly good. "Okay," he said eventually. "We are not in a good place."

"You can say that again," Beckett muttered. "Kidnapped, tied up and my case concussed. Rick, I don't feel too good."

He looked at her worriedly. "We'll get out of here. I hope. And yes, I know, I'm being hopelessly optimistic. And despite that I-" He paused. Someone on the other side of that door was screaming something. "Wait, something's going on."

There was more screaming. And shouting. A thunder of boots on floorboards in their general direction, which was worrying. Every hair on the back of his neck stood up on end. And then the boots stopped and he distinctly heard at least two people say a word that he never wanted to hear from the mouth of Alexis. The next word was insane though. 'Jedi'?

More boots, this time running away from the door, and then a bellow. "You dare to confront me? I hold the book of Karandalion! I will burn you to ash! I will- ARRGGGHHHHH! MY ARM! MY-" The voice was cut off in a very final way.

More screaming, more shouting, something or someone smashing against a wall.

And then there was the oddest noise. Like… nah. He must have been hit really hard on the head. His ears were ringing. Trick of the… um, wind?

The screaming stopped abruptly and then the world took a turn towards the decidedly bizarre, because with a suddenness that made him gap a shard of green light was thrust through the doorframe, at the same level as the hinges. And then it was dragged all the way down almost to the floor. It looked like… but that was impossible.

The blade vanished and then the entire door quivered – before, with a scream of metal on metal, it was pulled bodily out of the frame and then vanished. From the loud clang a way away it must have been quite a heavy one, although he had no idea what the strange skittering noise that ended at the same time as the clang was.

A figure then darted in. Castle stared at their rescuer – if he or she was their rescuer. Not very tall, not very large, dressed in a hooded brown robe that, combined with the low level of lighting, effectively hid their face. And then there was the lightsabre. Castle stared at it, mesmerised. It was a _lightsabre_. A green one. But that was… impossible. The figure looked around the room quickly and then shut the lightsabre (what?) off, before hurrying over to them – and then standing behind them.

"Um, hello? Are you here to rescue us? Pretty please?"

The figure made a 'shhh' noise and then reached out to place a hand on his and Beckett's heads. The hairs on the back of his neck must have been doing overtime, because they were now threatening to rip the lower part of his scalp off. And then…. His headache ebbed. A lot. What the hell? Oh and then the ties securing his hands and legs and body… just fell off. Judging by the way that Beckett was suddenly pulling her hands around from the back of her chair, the same thing had happened to her own bindings.

"Ok, who are you again?" From the way that her voice wasn't wobbling all over the place, Beckett's headache must also have been ebbing, although she still physically wobbled as she got to her feet. Castle stood as well, wincing as the blood flowed into those bits of his body that had been on a diet due to his posture.

The mysterious figure – and there was something oddly familiar about the way that they moved – didn't reply, but instead moved to the doorway and peered out. After a moment that hooded head looked back at them and then jerked twice at the corridor beyond.

"Can't you at least tell us who you are, what this was all about?" Castle realised that there was a bit of whine in his voice and this seemed to amuse their rescuer, who tilted his or her head and then moved out into the corridor carefully, before gesturing at them with a peremptory and very long-sleeved hand. He looked at the figure. Well, if this was a dream, and they were being rescued by a Jedi then at least they were dressed as one. Perhaps he still had concussion? Perhaps someone had slipped something into his coffee? Although if this was a dream, it came with a lot of pain, which was not something that happened in his dreams.

Beckett still seemed to be shaky on her feet, so he pulled her left arm over his shoulder, grabbed her waist and then helped her to the doorway. "Thanks," Kate whispered as they got there. "This is weird."

"You said it," Castle muttered. "Let's try and get out of here alive, ok?" Then he saw the corridor. "Whoa." It was a war zone. There was a haze of smoke in the air, there was blood smeared along one wall, there seemed to be a hell of a lot of dust on the floor and… there was something grey, with perhaps a few too many limbs buried under the remains of the metal door to their room.

Their rescuer gestured again and then darted up the corridor, pausing at an intersection to both check it out and wait for them to catch up, before darting further up. At the end was a right hand turn. Castle and Beckett staggered up the corridor, both almost tripping over themselves as they passed the door and the grey inhuman thing that was under it, and then joined the hooded Jedi person.

There was a… thing at the far end of the corridor. His brain was having some difficulties processing it, because it seemed to be… well, something that wasn't exactly human. In a nutshell it looked like the offspring of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a rhinoceros that had been force-fed every single steroid ever owned by the East German women's track team. Plus a pair of mad red eyes.

Their rescuer walked a few steps forwards and then seemed to sigh slightly and shake their head. At which point the creature threw its head back and made a noise that came very close to making bladder control a real issue. And then it charged at them. It was quite fast for such a large creature and every step it took shook the floor. He could feel himself boggling at it and he could also hear Beckett swearing at herself for not having her firearm on her.

It was the hooded figure who acted. Showing a smooth, deadly grace that made the hairs on the back of his neck (yes, those dratted things again) stand on end their rescuer ran forwards, kicked off one leg, _ran along the wall_ and then somehow there was a silver cylinder in their hand and they were leaping over the head of the creature whilst the green lightsabre blade was activated and then…

There was a confused sound and then the onrushing creature fell apart in several pieces. Its head, complete with now-lifeless mad red eyes, bounced once, twice and then finally tumbled to a halt in front of Beckett, who stared at it with very wide eyes. After a long moment she finally poked at it with her toe. It looked… extremely real.

The lightsabre was still on and Castle finally wrenched his eyes away from the remains of the… thing… And then he saw the others at the end of the corridor, just in front of a set of doors, who were all staring in horror at the remains of the… whatever the hell it was. There were five of them. They all had lumpy foreheads and yellow eyes. They all looked, in some way that he really could not explain, dangerous.

And then the world really went insane, because the hooded figure _threw_ the lightsabre down the corridor almost too fast for the eye to see, in a rotating green circle of death. It caught every one of those cult members in the neck and they… turned… to… dust. He stared at the motes of dust as they cascaded downwards and then poked at his brain with a metaphorical finger to try and make it work again. Beckett was also having trouble processing this, because her mouth was now hanging open.

"That's… that's…"

"Impossible?" He finished her sentence for her. "Are those…" The word 'vampires' was in his brain, but was having trouble getting through to his lips. He made an effort and finally said it. "Vampires?"

"It has… has to be some kind of trick. Hologram?"

The hooded figure turned to them and shook its head severely. And then they turned back to the corridor and held up a hand. And the doors at the end exploded outwards. Which was… also impossible. Castle grabbed hold of Beckett again and then rushed towards the doorway, just behind their rescuer. As they passed through the exit castle felt the building shudder slightly and he looked to one side to see flames erupt from the far side of the building. It was night, which made the flames more lurid. They half-staggered, half-rushed to a relatively safe place, where Beckett slumped onto a handy bench.

Of course 'relatively safe' depended on your point of view. Castle turned back to face the building as he heard the lightsabre snap on again. Something was approaching at full scream and died at full scream. Oh look. A vampire. The lightsabre snapped off and then the hooded figure turned to them again and tossed something towards him. He caught it automatically with his free hand and stared down at it in confusion. A cell phone? Aha. He quickly dialled Esposito's number and then waited. After an agonisingly long moment the detective finally picked up. "Hello?" That single word was said with the maximum of suspicion.

"Esposito! It's me! Castle! I-"

"Castle!" The detective sounded incredibly relieved. "Where are you man? And is Beckett with you?"

"She's with me, we're both safe. Kinda. We were both knocked out and we've both had a hell of a day. As for where we are…." He looked around. "I think we're near the river. Big building. Big building that's now on fire. I think I hear sirens in the distance so someone must have called it in." He peered around desperately. "We're in the Warehouse District! I think I see a sign for West 25th Street!"

There was a confused noise on the other side as Esposito held a hand over the mouthpiece and then shouted something loudly. Then he came back: "What the hell happened man?"

"We were ambushed. By the car."

"I know, we found your phones there. Gates has been tearing the city apart to find you."

Wow. Nice to be appreciated. "Esposito, the people who had us – it's a hell of a story, not even one that I'd believe. They had lumpy foreheads and yellow contact lenses. I think that they had contact lenses that is."

There was a sudden absolute silence, followed by a swearword or three. "Um, did they have long canines?"

Vampires. He knew about vampires. "Didn't get close enough to see that. When I was awake that is." The ground shuddered suddenly as something combusted particularly enthusiastically in the building and then all of a sudden part of the roof blew off with a roar. "Ok, we're getting the hell away from here."

"Castle. What. Happened?"

"Oh – we were rescued. Guy – or possible gal – in a hooded robe. And armed with something impossible in his or her hand. I'm not sure about that last part, I might have concussion. We're out of the building obviously. And the lumpy forehead people with yellow eyes…. Well, they went to pieces. Literally. Little pieces of ash. Can you bring some paramedics? It's just that my mouth doesn't believe what my brain wants it to say." The hairs on the back of his neck were going to need a lot of R&amp;R after this.

"Can you put Beckett on?"

"Sure, I'll just… oh." He looked at the bench. Beckett was still there, but their mysterious hooded rescuer wasn't. "What happened to our friend with the lightsabre? Kate? Are you ok?"

Beckett seemed to have gone into shock. She was sitting there with a look of stunned astonishment on her face. After a long moment – at about the same time that the sirens started to get louder and louder – she seemed to register his presence. "I'm sorry? What?"

"What happened to our rescuer?"

"She… uh… vanished. I turned my head for a second and she… vanished."

"She? How could you tell?"

"The way she moved." Beckett's eyes flickered down to the phone. Castle stared down at it and then got the message. "Esposito, here's Beckett." He handed it over and then looked around quickly. No sign at all of their rescuer, anywhere. He could hear Beckett talking quickly, which was a good thing because all of a sudden every car or truck or engine with a siren attached seemed to be converging on their location. And then, when he could finally see, in the chaos of yelling firefighters who seemed to be unrolling a hectare of fire hoses and the running cops who were trying to keep the inevitable gawkers back, Esposito and Ryan and, yes, even Gates heading towards him he finally obeyed the requests that his increasingly trembling legs were sending him and quietly slumped down onto his knees – and then onto his side. Time for a nap perhaps. Yes, time for a nap.

* * *

His dreams were chaotic. Flashing lights, yellow eyes, a green lightsabre, Esposito trying to ask him something as the EMTs fussed over him to treat him for dehydration, exhaustion and mild concussion, Gates barking something at someone else, a doctor at a hospital looking at him, his mother doing her I'm-deadly-serious-and-you're-obeying-orders thing that she only did when she really meant business, Alexis telling him to sleep. That last part was important. He just had no idea why.

When he woke up he had a hell of a headache, but at least the ceiling was the familiar one of his bedroom. He turned his head slightly and noted with relief that Kate was next to him. She was also very, very asleep.

_Coffee_, his brain demanded, _Coffee._ So he carefully got out of bed, put on a robe, inspected the colour of his tongue in the bathroom mirror (and then recoiled slightly at it) and then wandered out in search of coffee. Judging by the sun it was almost noon, which meant that he had slept for…. He had no idea how long. _Coffee._

He wandered into the kitchen area and then noted that his mother was there, reading a novel and looking disgustingly fresh and awake. Hearing his shuffle she looked up. "Hey kiddo!" She then blinked at him. "Are you ok Richard?"

He ran through various responses in his head and then tried to articulate one. "Uhhhh?"

"How very inarticulate of you. Let me guess: you need coffee?"

"Argl."And then a nod.

His mother turned and poured him a large mug of caffeinated heaven, which he promptly grabbed and practically inhaled. After a long moment to allow the caffeine to percolate into various synapses, prompting them to suddenly sit up and report for duty he was finally able to say a coherent phrase: "Good morning mother."

"Good afternoon you mean. Richard, you've been asleep for twelve hours.

He thought about this as his headache ebbed away. "I have?"

"You have. I take it that Katherine is still asleep?"

"Not anymore," came a groan from behind him as a tousled and very bleary Kate Beckett stumbled towards them. She was dressed in her robe and looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. "Coffee? Please?"

"Here you go my dear," Martha said as she fussed around her. "Drink this. How do you feel my dear?"

He looked at Kate as she visibly thought about this. "Urgh?"

"That's what I said," Castle muttered as he poured himself another cup. "Ah, caffeine. Nectar of the gods…" Then he paused. "Where's Alexis?"

"Here Dad."

He was aware of the phrase to jump out of one's skin, but he'd never experienced it before. It was unpleasant. He turned to see his daughter standing there in front of him. She had apparently appeared… out… of… nowhere. "Hey sweetheart. Where did you come from?"

She looked at him with that grave, introspective look that she had taken to using over the past few months. She'd been worrying him. "Upstairs, Dad. I think I need to have a word you all."

He sat down on the nearest stool and inhaled some more coffee. "About what?"

"About how I rescued you two last night."

Castle froze. Then he turned back to his daughter. "I'm sorry, but what?"

"I rescued you and Kate last night Dad. From the vampires and demons that kidnapped you."

There was a long moment as everyone stared at her. And then she gestured with her hand and a silver cylinder flew from the stairs into her hand. She thumbed a switch and a green blade thrummed into life with the distinctive noise of a lightsabre. She looked at them for a long moment and then she deactivated. "Dad. I'm a Jedi Knight." She looked at them all. "I guess I'd better explain how this all happened."


	2. Chapter 2

Apologies for the delay on this. I've been writing literally for a living and there have been times when I've been too mentally tired to write much of anything really. So - here we go with more Jedi Castle and I'm also writing the next chapter of The Terran Jedi. Oh - and I do not own these characters.

* * *

_Six months earlier…_

It was a hot day, so the best way to cope was with an iced coffee at her favourite coffee shop near the university. Alexis Castle took a deep gulp of icy caffeinated goodness and then sighed slightly as she stared down at her book. She couldn't seem to concentrate much today. The heat was one thing. Plus she had too much on her mind, as well as this… odd sensation at the back of her head. Peculiar. It had been growing for a few minutes now.

She glanced around her at the other people in the shop. There were the usual students, the usual moms who had paused in their shopping, the usual businessmen who had chosen the shop to do a little negotiating, the usual people in other words. And then there were the two men who were making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

The first was the man who had been sitting on a bench outside and staring at the shop for some time now. She'd noticed him earlier. He was a thin, pale man who looked as if he was almost quivering with… something. Nerves? Bravado? Caffeine withdrawal?

The second was still quietly drinking his coffee and looking out of the window to one side whilst somehow giving all his attention to the man outside. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was older than her by at least ten years, had brown hair, green eyes, was dressed well and had an air of… well, being coiled somehow. A paper was spread out in front of him, but he wasn't paying any attention to it at all.

She looked back out of the window, her attention having been drawn by a sudden movement. The guy on the bench had stood up suddenly and was still staring at the coffee shop – oh and he really was shaking. Shed could see his fingers quivering. Alarm trickled through her. And then the man stuck his right hand in his pocket – allowing the shape of what had to be a gun press against the fabric.

Panic rippled through her for a moment and she looked down desperately at her phone. She had to call Dad. No, Kate. No, Dad and Kate. As she grappled with the dilemma she suddenly heard the door open and shut quickly and she looked up to see… the green-eyed guy walking up to the would-be armed robber. The hairs on the back of her neck shivered again and she raised a hand to brush them back into place. This was bad, this was very bad and – then she blinked. The green-eyed guy was talking to the other man, talking slowly and very intently. And the would-be robber was… standing there, rather vacant-eyed. Staring at the right ear of the other man.

Alexis shivered suddenly. Something was wrong. No – something was happening. She couldn't articulate what it was though. She felt as if something was happening on a frequency that she couldn't even begin describe – it was like trying to define what yellow tasted like, or what a smile smelt like.

The green-eyed man stopped talking to the would-be robber, who was still staring at the side of the coffee house with what had to be a look of utter… nothingness. And then he suddenly seemed to blink, to start suddenly, before looking down with tears in his eyes – and then he ran off.

She watched him go in astonishment, before looking back at the green-eyed man, who was watching the rapid disappearance of the would-be robber with what appeared to be evident satisfaction. And then he strode back into the shop, where he returned to his seat and perused his paper with interest. After a moment he noticed her gaze. "Can I help you miss?"

"Um." That wasn't much of a start, but it felt like all she could manage for the time being. After a moment she rallied and then continued on. "How did you do that?"

He sipped some coffee and then frowned slightly. "Do what again?"

She looked about the shop and then she leant towards him slightly as she also lowered her voice. "You made that guy go away. The guy who had a gun and who was going to rob this place? How did you do that?"

He looked back at her, his eyes assessing her. "I just talked to him. Made him see sense."

No, she wasn't buying it. "You did more than that. You did… something. I don't know what you did, but you made him go away because of… something I can't describe. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. What did you do?"

The look he sent back at her was a very different one from his previous one. It was sharper, more intense. "You… felt something?"

"Yes."

"The hairs on the back of your neck stood up on end?"

"Yes!"

He looked at her intently again. "Can you feel anything now?"

She stared at him. "No. Should I?"

He tilted his head to one side and smiled wryly. "No. What about now?"

Ah. There was a shivery feeling on the back of her neck again, but this time it seemed to almost pulse up and down, from a slight shiver to a major quake. "Yes," she said closing her eyes for a long moment. "I can feel it."

The man stared at her for a long, long, moment, before finally apparently coming to some kind of internal conclusion and then leaning back in his seat. "Hi," he said eventually. "Timothy McGee. Special Agent at NCIS. And something else that I can't tell you without you thinking that I've gone raving mad."

She stared back at him. "Hi. Alexis Castle. College student and daughter to someone reasonably famous. And waiting to hear your explanation."

Agent McGee blinked at her words. "Alexis Castle? Any relation to Richard Castle?"

"Daughter."

Another blink. "I write a bit myself. As Thomas E Gemcity."

"Fine," Alexis said a bit bemusedly. "Explanation now?"

Agent McGee crooked a finger and then leant towards her slightly. "The Force is with me," he whispered as he picked up her book and then placed it on the palm of his hand, where it quickly revolved twice without any sign of external influence other than the hairs on the back of her neck doing their thing again. "And also with you it seems."


	3. Chapter 3

Oops, I forgot to upload this chapter! Apologies.

The bench was a nice one. It was in a quiet area of Central Park, just around the corner from the coffee shop. There was a stand of trees nearby that shielded the bench, there were some artistically sculpted rocks that also shielded the bench and above all there was absolutely no-one anywhere near it.

It was also a good place for Alexis to sit and boggle madly at the information that she had just been given. The apparently insane but apparently very real information. She stared at the trees for a long moment and then she finally turned back to the man next to her. "How is this possible?"

McGee sighed deeply. "That's a good question. I had the same problem when I first discovered that I could use the Force. I couldn't work out how such a thing was even possible. Let me put it this way - how many different forms of exotic particles and forms of energy have we discovered over the years?"

She blinked. "Quite a few."

"And how many more are out there, waiting to be discovered?"

Another blink. "Quite a few again."

"Then what if the Force is the ability to manipulate objects using a form of energy that hasn't been discovered yet?"

She thought about it for a long moment, her mind racing. "That's… possible. I guess."

"It's the best explanation that my girlfriend and I have been able to come up with so far," he said with a wry smile. "I went to John Hopkins and MIT. She's a forensic scientist with a lot of degrees. And a PHD. The Force… defies description sometimes."

She considered the gross understatement that that was and then nodded absently. The distant sound of clopping could be heard to the North, so there must be some horse riders nearby, maybe even police officers on horseback. Someone laughed somewhere to their right. Normal sounds for a normal world. Something that she seemed to have left.

"So what now?" The words came out slowly. "What happens now?"

Agent McGee regarded her solemnly. "Good question," he said quietly. "It all depends on you. I've just opened a window onto a world that you never knew about – and there's more out there."

Alexis jerked her head around to look at him. "More?"

"Alexis… the world is a lot more complicated than you might have thought. A lot more dangerous too. Now, finding out more about the Force could protect you. But the problem – if you can call it that – about being a Jedi is that we help people. A lot. And that can mean walking in some very dark places."

She blinked again. "I'm sorry, so you're an actual Jedi?"

"Would you rather that I was a Sith?"

She thought about this. "Good point. Still not sure how this is possible outside of a George Lucas movie, but that is a good point." She was sounding a bit stunned, she realised. "So you're a Jedi."

"Yes."

"Are there other Jedi?"

"Six of us so far."

She eyed him carefully. "Please don't tell me that you have lightsabres."

The NCIS agent coughed slightly and then pulled a wry face. "Actually…"

"Oh my god, this can't be happening! It's impossible! Isn't it? Tell me that it's impossible and that I've hit my head or something and am hallucinating all this! Am I babbling? I'm babbling aren't I?"

He smiled at her again. "It's perfectly understandable. And yes – I have a lightsabre. I'd show it to you but this is a public place."

She leant back and stared at the sky. A plane was crawling across the azure canopy, leaving a long contrail behind it. "Please don't tell me that Sith exist either."

"Not that we've found so far. We had someone who skirted the Dark Side, but she came through. Which is why we offer to train those who we find can use the Force."

A gallon of invisible water seemed to cascade down her spine and made her jerk upright. "You're afraid that people who can use the Force can turn evil?"

"Yes. And I think that it's right to do so," McGee said gently. "This isn't something to be taken lightly."

She stared at him and saw the intensity in his eyes. "I can't ignore this, can I?" She knew that it was a rhetorical question the moment that it left her mouth.

"I would… suggest not." He was looking at her and she could tell that he was trying not to push her, to instead try to let her think this whole thing through.

Dad. She would like nothing better than to talk to Dad about this. He'd be so excited, so freaked, so scared for her and so… well, so Dad. But he wasn't here. And she didn't know how to even begin to explain this whole thing. And she had to make a decision. One of, if not the biggest decisions of her life.

She had no choice. "Agent McGee – will you teach me how to become a Jedi?"


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay on this, I've had a new and insanely complicated job that might or might not lead somewhere. Anyway - more coming on this and the new chapter of the Terran Jedi will be up soon. Ish. Kinda. Oh - disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

* * *

Alexis had always liked Dad's study. It was comfortable, it pandered very much to his ego and it was quiet. A perfect place to sit and think, at least when he wasn't there. She looked out of the window and sighed slightly. All those people. All those lives. Some sane, some boring, some exciting, some… well, frankly insane. How did someone cope when their life was suddenly turned upside down? How could someone cope? She thought about what Kate did and winced slightly. Now there was a job that involved the very worst kind of change. She dealt with death on an almost daily basis. So did Dr Parrish. So did Dad.

She wandered about the study briefly, noting the books almost absently with her eyes and then looked at the living room and the kitchen beyond it. She liked home. It was safe. Almost predictable at times, as long as you judged Dad's more excitable moods accurately.

But now… She walked forwards and then sat down on the long couch, coiling her legs up underneath her. Something was bothering her. Well, apart from the whole Jedi thing, which was still pinging about her brain like a ricocheting bullet. Something else.

A key rattled in the door and she looked up as her grandmother swept in through the entrance, kicking it shut with her foot as she went.

"Hi Grams."

"Alexis darling! What are you doing here? I thought that you had classes?"

"Study period." Which was perfectly true, although she knew that she probably had to re-read that last chapter again. Her brain had been not quite connecting with the facts at the time.

Martha Rogers looked at her, walked into the kitchen to deposit her shopping and then returned. "Ok, kiddo, what's up? I tell just by looking at you that something's wrong."

Ah. There were times when Grams could be a bit too observant. Alexis sighed. "Oh, nothing wrong. Just… wondering about a few things."

Her grandmother sat down next to her and peered quizzically at her expression. "Such as?"

She couldn't lie to Grams, but at the same time she couldn't tell her the truth – not without ending up at the nearest hospital, being treated for what Grams might think was concussion. So – perhaps some careful truth.

"Grams, I've been wondering about what kinds of, well, talents I inherited. I mean, Dad has his writing and his imagination, you have your acting, Mom has her own acting, um, Grandpa has his, erm, CIA skills…" She almost bit her tongue for mentioning her grandfather, who was still such a mystery to them all. "I mean, I'm good at studying and I like helping people… what am I going to be good at? What's going to drive me? And where does Dad get his love of magic – sleight of hand really – from?"

Her grandmother looked at her and then blinked. "My, what a horribly pertinent series of questions. And before you ask again, yes, don't worry, I'm sure that you'll find your way to your future career, as I imagine that this is where you're going. It's perfectly natural for you to start to wonder what you're going to do later in life." Then she smiled and leant back on the couch, before waving a languid finger at her.

"As for the magic bit, your father gets that from my own father. He was infuriatingly good at that kind of thing." She sighed slightly. "I remember the number of times that I'd beg him to tell me how he pulled off that trick with the coins… but he never did."

Alexis perked up a little at this. "What trick with the coins?"

"Oh, it was… infuriating actually." She smiled a little mistily and then waved a hand. "He'd take two pennies – randomly selected, I'd chose them for him so there was no chance of any chicanery – and he'd place them both on a glass table, about six inches apart. Then he'd roll up his sleeves, so there was a touch of drama there darling, and he'd place his finger on the one closest to him and then he'd push it towards the other one. And the other one would move away from it. I could never work out how he did it – I always inspected the coins afterwards so I knew that they hadn't been tampered with, or somehow magnetised or anything, or pulled on strings somehow – and he never told me. He died far too young." She waved a hand again and then wiped a tear away from her eye.

Oh. Well. Interesting. Alexis mulled this over for a moment. "Thanks Grams."

* * *

From a distance they were two people sitting and meditating under a very shady tree. They weren't actually that odd a sight – there was a group practicing tai chi to the North of them. However, they were the only people in Central Park on that increasingly hot day who were using the Force.

"Imagine the Force as a river," Agent McGee said quietly to her. "A big, wide, river. Think of it as the Mississippi. It looks slow, but there is power there. It's unstoppable. It embraces everything. It enfolds you."

Alexis closed her eyes and reached out with everything she had. She could feel… well something, but she couldn't tell what exactly. "I sense something," she said haltingly. "It's close but…"

"Don't feel frustrated, it's normal that you can't quite touch it. Analyse it. Feel it. Touch it with your mind." His words were soothing and she concentrated on what he was saying. She pushed out with her mind. "Stretch out with your feelings." Yes, something was there. Something powerful and huge and…

Alexis exhaled slowly. "I feel it," she said slowly, trying to keep hold of it. It was a bit like trying to grasp a bar of soap in the bath – there were moments when she could touch it and other instants when it slipped away from her.

"Good," the Jedi Knight told her. "I can feel you accessing the Force. That's very good. Now, you'll need to practice this. Several times a day. It's important."

She opened her eyes and nodded. And then she drew her knees up and hugged them. "What if… what I accidently touch the Dark Side? I'm worried."

McGee looked at her levelly. "It's right to worry about that. But you shouldn't be. Remember what I said about the Force being a river? It has… well, eddies and currents. The Dark Side includes some of those currents. They are a part of the whole but they aren't as powerful as the whole. What's more powerful, the Mississippi or a stream in flood? A stream might knock you off your feet, but the Mississippi can carve its way through the landscape. As long as you are calm, as long as you can see the big picture, then you can see the Dark Side for what it is – anger and hatred and pointless violence."

She relaxed her posture again, her knees going down. "I think I understand."

"Good. Now – try and access the Force again."

She closed her eyes – and then she thought of something. "Agent McGee?"

"Call me Tim. You are my Padawan after all."

"Okay – Tim. Is it possible that people in my family could have shown signs of accessing the Force in the past?"

"It's possible. Why do you ask?"

"My grandmother told me that her father had this trick, with pennies. He'd make one move away from the other – without even touching it."

Her teacher rubbed his chin in thought. "It could be. Given that you can use the Force. It might have been magic as well."

He said the words in such a light tone that she stared at him and then opened her mouth to deny the very existence of magic – only to close it with a snap as she thought about it. "Oh. Really?"

"Think of it as another form of energy. And yes, it exists. My boss at NCIS can use it. Between the two of us we can sense when people are lying – and when they're even just human. Because there are people who aren't. It sounds insane, but it's true."

She thought about this for a moment, as her thoughts revved at a million miles an hour. Then something threw a gear somewhere and everything shuddered to a halt. "People... who aren't human?"

"Not entirely." He looked at her with sympathy and a touch of sadness on his face. "There is a lot of good in this world, but on the flip side there's also a lot of evil. People who on the face of it can look normal often aren't. As a Jedi you'll have to confront the nastier parts of the world in order to keep the better parts of it safe." He looked at her again and then smiled slightly. "Ok. Looks like I need to show you a little proof."


	5. Chapter 5

I've been blocked for a while on this one. Plus I have a new job that means that I travel a lot these days to conferences. Plus I've been writing 'Robb's Return' on , which has sucked up a lot of my imagination. But then I went for a walk this morning and everything fell into place.  
Oh, disclaimer - I do not own these characters.

* * *

It looked human. Kind of. It was human-shaped. Apart from the small horns on the side of the head. And the orange pupils. And the fangs. And there was something… wrong with the shape of the back. But on the other hand the figure on the other table was also holding a beer, was dressed in a shirt and denims and was reading the paper.

And then there was the other figure, the one on the other side of the table from Agent McGee and her. The figure dressed in the robes and the hood that covered her face. But the sleeves didn't hide the hands. The hands covered in what seemed to be soft black fur. With fingernails that might have been more like claws.

"My, my," the figure said amusedly in a purring kind of contralto voice. "Agent McGee who is this bright young thing? And is this what I am to you now – just a stop-off to prove that New York's underworld has an underworld of its own? I'm disappointed. I hoped for something… different… between us."

Agent McGee smiled easily back at the figure. "Sorry R'Ith. I'm still with Abby."

"Ah, your little forensic girlfriend. I've heard about her. They say that she has a touch of the Fey within her."

"That had occurred to me. Besides, R'Ith, I did hear that your people occasionally decapitate their, um, playmates."

The figure snorted – and then there was a gleam of very white teeth under the hood. "Only those who are… disappointing. I'm sure that you wouldn't be."

McGee smiled again and then his eyes flickered to one side for the briefest of seconds. Alexis looked over just in time to see the door to the strange bar that they were in open and a no-descript little man walk in. He was dressed like an accountant from the 1970's, had a pair of glasses perched on the tip of his nose and looked utterly unthreatening. So why then did people lean away from him and watch him fearfully as he found his way to a table? And why was the bartender frowning so much?

The figure on the other side of the table snorted slightly. "We get all sorts here." And then the door opened again and a tall… thing… walked in. It looked like a set of tectonic plates joined together, had little red eyes and a chin like an anvil. It looked very, very, threatening. But no-one reacted much as it walked through the bar, other then to look up and occasionally mutter something. As he passed them Alexis saw that it was clutching some books. War and Peace. Proust. And… Shakespeare. It sat in a chair that creaked a bit in protest and then started to read.

Alexis turned her head to one side for a moment as she thought about the place. "No-one is as they seem here, are they?"

R'Ith tilted her own head and then reached up and pulled her hood off. Alexis blinked. She was a cat. She was an actual cat. Ok, she was a humanoid cat, but she was still a cat. With big green eyes. She was also looking at Alexis in some surprise.

"Tim, what is she?" R'Ith said the question in a different voice. She was intent now, not playful. "You didn't just bring her here to see the sights of the underworld, did you?"

"No," Agent McGee said quietly. "I did not. She needed to see what else is out there because her world has expanded in ways that she needs to understand. She needs to know that what she thought was impossible isn't."

R'Ith's eyes widened. "You have a Padawan?"

He nodded and the cat-human sat back and then stared at Alexis with those green, almost emerald-coloured eyes. "You know Tim, my life keeps getting more and more complicated ever since I met you. I'm glad that I don't cross the lines that I set myself so long ago."

"You set yourself?" Alexis asked carefully.

R'Ith smiled again and then waved a lazy hand. "There is darkness in my kind, girl. Darkness and light. Sometimes the light wins. And sometimes the darkness does. I lost my brother when he descended into his own darkness - and he never came out of it."

"He died?"

"No. Something worse. Don't ask me. You wouldn't like the tale. So I set my own lines around myself. Things I would do. And things that I wouldn't let myself do. No matter what the reason. No matter what the excuse. Because it wasn't worth it. I like living without enemies. And girl, the Jedi are the worst of the enemies of darkness, because they will not stop, they will not cease, to point out that there is a better road ahead of everyone." She looked at McGee, who smiled slightly. "And they can be very annoying when they do that."

"You're very welcome," Agent McGee said sincerely. Then he looked over at the far side of the room, where the little man in the accountant's clothes was staring at Alexis with something dark and malevolent glittering in his eyes. "Excuse me, I need to go and talk to a vampire that seems to be planning something unwise."

R'Ith looked at the little man. "Oh, him. Now, his darkness is indescribably black and nasty. The world will be a better place once he's dead."

"He's a vampire?" Alexis frowned. "He looks… so harmless. Oh. Ah. I shouldn't be so surprised by this should I?"

"You said it yourself, girl. No-one here is as they seem. Oh, and that one is truly stupid. He's actually coming this way."

McGee and Alexis both looked over in time to see the little man approach them. He was being watched by the other people in the bar with an air of total bafflement.

"So," the little man said. "New people. How delicious."

"Go away Frank."

"You don't give me orders you cat-bitch freak. The girl is coming with me now. I like redheads." He might look boring and dull but his voice… that was something else. There was something in it that sent shivers down her spine. This was not someone who wanted to talk to her. No, he wanted something else from her. Her stomach clenched for a moment in fear. Then she saw the calm expression on McGee's face. The Jedi looked calm and collected.

"No," Agent McGee said as he slowly stood up. "She's not. She is under my protection."

The little man dismissed him with a sneer. "Your words are worthless, meatbag. No, she comes with me."

"Are you suicidal, Frank?" R'Ith drawled the question languidly as she looked at him with eyes that were hard – but also amused. "Have you heard of the Jedi?"

Frank sneered. "A myth from the West Coast."

"You need to walk away. You need to walk away now." McGee's voice was low and intense. "I don't want to make a scene here."

"Man's an asshole," the bartender called over in a cheery voice. "I'll hoover him up after you dust him."

This seemed to nonplus the little man. Alexis stared him, trying to access the Force. It was hard as she could feel the tension around her, and accessing the Force at the moment was like getting hold of a very slippery bar of soap in the bath. But she did it. And then she stared even harder at the man in the suit from the 1970's. He was a hole in the world. A void. He was a walking corpse. And yet… beneath that void there was something. Something with teeth and claws and evil. She swallowed. Yes, this was a vampire. Her first vampire. Dad would be so excited!

"She comes with me," the little vampire repeated. He seemed angry. "And then I will come back and teach you all a lesson."

"No, you won't," McGee said. "Firstly the Jedi are not a myth. And secondly they aren't confined to the West Coast." Alexis felt the Force surge within the room and then suddenly the vampire was flying across the room. He landed on a table and broke it rather badly. When he came upright again he was different. His face had a bone spur across his forehead, his eyes were yellow and he suddenly had very long incisors. He also looked very, very, angry.

"Ok, you I kill first. Then the girl. Eventually. And I'll take my time with her."

"No, you won't." And then Tim McGee leapt through the air, his lightsabre came out and then activated, down and around and… the vampire just exploded into dust.

The room, which had been silent, saw a sudden outbreak of relieved chatter and even some light applause. "Sorry about the table," McGee said as he returned to Alexis and R'Ith. "I'll pay for that."

"Nah, it's ok. Like I said, he was an asshole." The bartender seemed to be far more cheerful all of a sudden.

Alexis looked at McGee. He seemed subdued. "I can't believe you did that. Couldn't you, you know…"

"Do the Jedi mind-trick? Sadly it doesn't work on the strong-minded. And he was strong-minded. Deep in evil." He shook his head sadly. "It had to be done."

"Frank was a thing, girl." R'Ith also seemed more cheerful now. "Not a 'him', a 'what'."

"Vampires are walking corpses, Alexis," McGee said quietly. "They're inhabited by… call them the spirit of a demon. An evil spirit at that."

"Don't use the word 'demon', by the way girl," R'Ith said softly. "It's a word that can be… misused."

"Misused?" Alexis asked with a small frown.

"Girl, what do you think I am? Technically speaking my people can be classified as 'demons'. I hate the word."

This was a good point and Alexis looked about the room again. Yes, appearances could be deceptive. And the impossible was possible. She had a lot to think about.

"So, have we given you enough to ponder?" R'Ith said a smile.

"Yes. I can't imagine what my father would say about this place."

"Your father?"

"He's Rick Castle. The author." McGee smiled.

"Oh. Ah." The cat-demon – sorry, cat-humanoid – blinked at this. "I like his books. And you're his daughter?"

"I am."

R'Ith tilted her head thoughtfully, her eyes lost in thought as she stared at Alexis. Then she shivered slightly. "Oh, you are a strong one. I can tell."

Alexis blinked a little. "Thank you."

Those green eyes slid off her and onto McGee. "I'm glad you came here today Tim. You always enliven things."

"Thank you, I think."

"Oh, and I heard a rumour today." Her voice had dropped. "Some vampires are in town. They're looking for some books, one by someone called 'Karandalion' and another by someone called 'Tancred the Bloody'. And they need a location. Put everything together and…"

"They'll need blood. A victim." Agent McGee sighed. "Thank you R'Ith."

"Me? Oh I was never here." And then she winked and stood up, moving with a lithe grace before pausing. "Let me know if you ever break up with Abby. I like a challenge."


	6. Chapter 6

Yes, this one has been bubbling under for a while now. Tonight I finally had the time, energy and inspiration to finish a chapter that should have been up ages ago. Sorry for the delay.

* * *

The coffee machine would be just any other ordinary piece of equipment in the hands of anyone but himself. When he was there he made it sing the sweetest of music. And make the best coffee imaginable. He waited until the last blurp, wiped the nozzle expertly, added cream and a dash of sugar to the mug and then sipped gently. Perfection.

And then, just to show off, he made it again, this time to Kate's specification.

As he wandered back to her desk, clutching both coffees, he frowned a little. Kevin Ryan was at his desk. Or rather he was drooping in his chair at his desk, looking like a dying duck. His face wasn't quite green, as that tended to come with being dead, but it was close.

Rick Castle placed Kate Beckett's coffee down at her desk and then looked at her as she frowned over some paperwork at the same time that she cradled her phone on her shoulder. "Um, Ryan looks no better."

She raised an eyebrow at this and then looked at him acerbically. "I know." Then she raised her voice. "RYAN?"

The greenish face turned to look at them. "Beckett?"

"Go home!"

Ryan frowned and then looked mulish. "I'm fine. Fine!"

Rick looked at him doubtfully. "You don't look fine. You look queasy."

"I may not be feeling 100 percent, but I can assure you that I am just fine."

"No, man, you're not," Javier Esposito said as he strode up to his partner. "What the hell are you still doing here? I told you to go home before you infect everyone with this bug you picked up."

"I am just fine," Ryan said stubbornly. "And I have work to do. Now – leave me alone."

Esposito shot Castle and Beckett an exasperated look and Rick raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. "Shame that Captain Gates isn't here."

"She's being briefed on that inter-agency co-operation she's attending in a few days. She hates it. Ryan! Go home!"

"I can assure you that I am just fine. I'm not going to give in to some damn germ."

Rick leant back in his chair and sipped his coffee as he mulled things over. "Is it wrong to be cruel to be kind?"

Kate looked at him and then narrowed her eyes. Aha. Yes, his fiancée knew him all too well. She smiled a little. "Be as cruel as you like."

"Ok." He sighed. "Ryan?"

"Yes, Castle?"

"Mashed potato. Sweet potato mash. Lumpy greasy gravy."

There was a pause, a horking sound and then Kevin Ryan stood up. "'Scuse me," he said as he turned a funny colour – and then he ran for the men's restroom, one hand clasped over his mouth.

Esposito watched him go with a grin. "Oh, that was a low blow, man." He paused and then grinned a little harder. "You were right though – cruel to be kind!"

Rick smirked a little and then looked at his phone. "Alexis is awfully quiet today. Said she had some studying to do, but she normally sends me at least something."

"You're still worrying about her after that kidnapping aren't you?" Esposito asked with a frown of concern.

Scenes from that nightmarish passage of seemingly endless days flashed through his head. "That'll always be with me, Javier. That left… scars."

The detective shot him a sympathetic look and then, hearing slow approaching footsteps, looked over to one side. A pale and shaky Kevin Ryan was approaching. "Guys," he mumbled, "I don't feel too good."

"Go home man," Esposito said, making shooing motions with one hand. "Take your germs and get out of here."

"And don't come back until you're better," Beckett added. "We will check on you."

Ryan's cheeks expanded slightly as he repressed something gaseous that must have come up his throat and then he staggered off. Castle watched him go with some concern. "Should we call Jenny and tell her to come get him?"

"No need," Beckett said with a smirk of her own as she replaced the receiver. "I just called her. I was keeping her updated. She's on the way and said that she just texted him to get to the main entrance and stay there."

"Sneaky," said Rick admiringly, and then he looked back at his phone. "I should find out what Alexis is up to."

* * *

Agent McGee was frowning as they reached a quiet spot near the demon bar. And then he looked around carefully before pulling out his phone, tapping out a number and then holding his phone horizontally so that the speaker function kicked in. It rang three times before a voice finally answered. "This is Rupert Giles."

"Giles, it's Tim McGee."

"Tim! How are you my boy?" He sounded avuncular and so very British.

"Not too bad. I'm in New York at the moment and…" He looked at Alexis for a moment. "I have my first Padawan with me."

Alexis blushed a little – but then that was her new, erm, title, wasn't it? Padawan. Weird. Dad would be so proud. She wondered for a moment what Dad's reaction would eventually be. She hated the thought of keeping this all a secret from him, but she was old enough now to have her own life.

"A Padawan? Congratulations! And who is the lucky person?"

McGee smiled at her and she cleared her throat. "Hello Mr Giles. My name is Alexis Castle."

"Pleased to meet you, so to speak. And congratulations to you too. Tim McGee is an excellent person to learn from. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you Mr Giles."

"Oh please, it's just Giles. Now – what did you want to talk to me about, Tim?"

"We had a tip-off today from an old friend. You remember R'Ith?"

"Ah, our feline friend. What did she have to say?"

"She warned that there are some vampires in New York who are looking for some books. Specifically by some people called Karandalion and Tancred the Bloody."

There was a clunking noise from the phone, followed by what sounded like someone using a cloth on something. "Giles," McGee said worriedly, "Are you cleaning your glasses?"

There was another noise from the phone, followed by a sigh. "Yes," Giles said. "Erm, both of them were dark mages. They came from different eras, but they share certain… attributes. Namely that they both became obsessed with the blackest of magic. And they both descended quite rapidly into utter insanity as a result. As a result people involved in magic tend to treat any books associated with the two with extreme caution."

"Why?" Alexis asked with a frown.

"Because their early spells tend to start off benign and then rapidly become more powerful but also more unstable. In the end they were both essentially writing magic that made no sense. Which is one of the reasons why they both died in such… odd fashions."

Alexis swapped a troubled look with Agent McGee. "Odd in what way?"

Giles cleared his throat. "Well, Tancred the Bloody sought to open a dimensional portal. Got his calculations a bit, well, wrong and ended up as a rain of body parts over Sienna. And Karandalion claimed that his latest and most powerful spell would allow him to walk into the sea and then command all the creatures there to do his bidding."

"It didn't work did it?" McGee sighed.

"Ah - no. They found his body at low tide. He seemed to have been partially eaten by what was presumably a giant crab."

There was a slight pause. "Yuck?"

"Indeed. I've seen the best written records on it. They came with a picture. And that's all I'll say on that matter, because I ate recently."

"Fair enough," admitted Agent McGee. "Moving rapidly on, I take it that the books are incredibly dangerous and shouldn't be in the hands of vampires or anything that goes bump in the night?"

"You are correct in that. The spells that they contain are likely to be highly unstable. The thought of any of them being used anywhere near New York City… well, it makes my skin crawl. I strongly suggest tracking them down and then sending them on to the nearest people who can store them somewhere safe. I believe that Room 42 of the British Museum has a team at the American Museum of Natural History in New York at the moment. Something about a tablet there."

Agent McGee pursed his lips slightly in thought. "Ok, then I need to get some local information. Thanks Giles."

"Any time Timothy. Best of luck."

The Federal Agent turned his phone off and then looked back at Alexis. "Much as I would love to continue your education, not to mention your training, I have to carry out some reconnaissance in some… deeply insalubrious areas of this city. I need to find out who might be looking for those books. That said, I need you to continue your training in meditation. Find somewhere quiet this evening. Go home, find a quiet place and carry out those meditation exercises I taught you. Learn to feel for the Force. I'll call you in the morning and we can meet again. I have about three or four more days in New York, but I can come up fairly easily from Norfolk. You've got a lot of training ahead of you – Padawan."


End file.
